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Early ALEC Supporter

Paul Weyrich -- "I don't want everybody to vote" (Goo Goo)

One of ALEC’s founders was right- wing political apparatchik Paul Weyrich, a Racine native who famously said: “I don't want everybody to vote. Elections are not won by a majority of people – they never have been from the beginning of our country and they are not now. As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down.” This spirit is reflected in ALEC’s push for “voter ID,” which purports to address the statistically non-existent (but greatly hyped) issue of voter fraud and which has the very real effect of making it harder for students, people of color, and the elderly to cast ballots. University of Wisconsin professor Kenneth Mayer recently testified that over 220,000 people in Wisconsin lack the specific kinds of identification now required to vote under the new Wisconsin law. [1]

About ALEC

ALEC is a corporate bill mill. It is not just a lobby or a front group; it is much more powerful than that. Through ALEC, corporations hand state legislators their wishlists to benefit their bottom line. Corporations fund almost all of ALEC's operations. They pay for a seat on ALEC task forces where corporate lobbyists and special interest reps vote with elected officials to approve “model” bills. Learn more at the Center for Media and Democracy's ALECexposed.org, and check out breaking news on our PRWatch.org site.

Background

"A former reporter and radio news director, Mr. Weyrich is a regular guest on daily radio and television talk shows. A sought-after writer, Mr. Weyrich has published policy reports and journals on a variety of conservative issues and has contributed editorials to The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal. He has been described by The Economist as 'one of the conservative movement's more vigorous thinkers.' Voted three years in a row from 1981 - 1983 by readers of Conservative Digest as one of the top three 'most popular conservatives in America not in Congress,' Mr. Weyrich has been named by Regardie's Magazine as 'one of the 100 most powerful Washingtonians.'

"He has been married since 1963 to the former Joyce Smigun, is the father of five children, and serves as a deacon in his church. Age: 57. Born in Racine, Wisconsin, married to Joyce Smigun Weyrich, July 6, 1963."

Weyrich headed the CWG when it was first established in 1974. "When we first started [in 1974], we didn't really have anyone in leadership favorable to our point of view," he said. [3]

"We had to figure out ways to get around them. â?¦ Today, it's entirely different. Today, we have the most conservative leadership group in the modern history of Senate. â?¦ The Steering Committee under these circumstances is taken very seriously," he told The Hill. [4]

Quotes

"We are different from previous generations of conservatives. We are no longer working to preserve the status quo. We are radicals, working to overturn the present power structure of this country." (John Soloma's 1984 book, Ominous Politics: the new conservative labyrinth, Hill and Wang, New York ISBN: 0809072955 0809001594).